By Jeanette Doil
The prison system is something that most
people don't think about often. Oh sure when
the news does a story on some horrible crime
that captures headlines we take notice. We
see what the media wants us to see. We
believe what the government wants us to
believe. But how many of us really know the
truth?
In 1997 there were 1,725,842 inmates in our
jails and prisons. The largest percentage of
inmates are in prison on drug charges. I'm
not talking about big time drug dealers. I'm
speaking of people who had a small amount of
drugs, who were harming no one other than
perhaps themselves. They make up the largest
portion of the inmate population. You may be
surprised to know that murder, rape, etc.
don't even make the top ten list of reasons
that people are incarcerated.
What do you think it's like to live in a
prison? Close your eyes and picture it. Do
you imagine there are swimming pools,
comfortable beds, tennis courts? Do you see
the inmates lazing about with nothing to do,
relaxing living the life of the ultimate
couch potato? You don't believe any of those
things? How about this, do you think the
state (ultimately you) pays for the shampoo,
toothpaste, soap etc. that a person needs in
order to be hygienic? Do you believe that
inmates are well fed, while many on the
streets are hungry? When inmates work do you
think they are paid well for their efforts,
with your money? Do you believe they have top
quality health care at your expense?
None of the above is the truth! I do not
know of a single state prison with a swimming
pool or tennis court, if they exist let me
assure you it would be for the staff, not the
inmates. The beds are cement slabs or metal
racks with thin mattresses. Couch potato? Not
most of them, most are like caged animals,
waiting , pacing, praying to be called to
work, or church or anywhere. But there are
not enough jobs, not enough staff for work or
church or recreation on too many days.
Inmates must pay for their own shampoo,
toothpaste, soap etc. Indigent inmates are
supposed to be supplied limited quantities of
these things, but they often go without. Most
inmates leave the table hungry. In many
states inmates are not paid at all for their
work. In the states that do pay inmates for
work the pay starts at .10 per hour. 25% is
taken for a gate fee. Things are not any
cheaper in prison. So how long do you think
it would take you to buy a bottle of shampoo
at ten cents per hour?
You may be saying to yourself right now,
So? They are criminals they deserve it! Do
the crime do the time! Or any one of a
hundred things along the same lines. Most
people believe you must do something really
violent to end up in prison. Most people
believe that you are still innocent until
proven guilty in this country. Most people
don't think about it at all until one of two
things happen. They or a loved one is
affected by violent crime or they or a loved
one is wrongly incarcerated or excessively
sentenced.
When I say these things I have many people
tell me that we think too much about the
criminal and the victims are forgotten.
Having been a victim of violent crime I can
relate to the feeling. But usually it is
based on your own sense of hurt which can
greatly cloud your outlook. I am not saying
that victims should have no rights. My heart
goes out to every one who has been hurt by
crime, the initial victim and the loved ones
of those who will be incarcerated because of
the crime. What I am saying is if we believe
by seeking revenge on those who hurt us we
will feel better in the end we are wrong.
But more than that we will change nothing.
Most people who are in the prison system will
get out, they will be somebody's neighbor and
they will have gained nothing from their time
in prison except the knowledge that "it's you
or me" because that's the way it is in our
prisons. They have removed most of the
educational programs from our prisons.
Because the tax payers don't want to throw
away good money on worthless criminals. They
have no counseling, nothing to help them
change whatever it was that got them where
they are in the first place. Is this what we
really want?
I also will not forget to mention that
there are many people in our prisons who are
guilty of nothing. Some couldn't afford a
qualified attorney, some were threatened and
railroaded. Some were the victims of devious
prosecutors whose pay raises often depend on
the number of convictions they get. But no
matter why they are there, guilty or not.
They deserve to be treated with decency. The
punishment is the loss of freedom, they need
not have other forms of torment inflicted
upon them.
We can not give up the rights of the accused
or we risk becoming nazi Germany revisited,
when we give up the rights of the accused we
soon will be sentencing without so much as a
trial, Why waste the tax money?
On another note you have the families,
friends and other loved ones who are doing
time on the outside. They often receive
little or no sympathy or help from their
families. "Just dump the jerk", "He always
was a trouble maker", "You're better off
without him" Those who have family behind
them are very lucky indeed. But even so the
stigma from the rest of the world can be
overwhelming. Because the whole rest of the
world cannot know what you know. "he didn't
do it" Or the reasons why he did. Or no
matter that he did, I love him anyway, he's
still my son, still my husband, she's still
my daughter.
The prison system itself also places an
added burden on the family. You have often
lost your breadwinner, in my case the only
one in the family earning any money at all,
and yet still you have to pay the bills, have
to try to send some money to your loved one
in prison. Have to pay the phone bill, from
which the state will take even more money
from your empty pockets. There is no end.
cont.
You can reach Jeanette Doil at:
jet@eaznet.com
